Gun recoil mechanism



Jan. 15, 1924.

B. P. JOYCE GUN RECOIL MECHANISM Filed Oct.- 1, 1923 spaced tongues 8 adapted to Patented Jim. 15, 1924.

-- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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GUN RECOIL MECHANISM.

'Applioationfiled October 1, 1928. Serial No. 665,867.

(FILED UIIDEB THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1888, 22 STAT. L, 825.)

used by the Government, orany of its ofli- -1 ccrs or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States,'without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883. v

The present invention relates to gun recoil mechanism.

The primary object of this invention is the provision of brake mechanism which will restrain the gun both in recoil and counter recoil.

Another object is the provision of means for returning the gun to battery at the end of recoil.

Further objects are the provisions of means for'lockin the un in its casing and of means for loc 'ing t e gun to the recoil mechanism.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the'spirit of the invention.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view through the gun-casing and recoil mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation with parts broken away.

Referring to the drawing by numerals of reference I have shown a gun barrel 5 reciprocally mounted in a casing 6 which is provided with a bearing 7 for supporting the barrel in its reciprocal movement. Intermediate its length the gun barrel is provided with t into spaced grooves 9 formed on a ring 10 which surrounds the gun barrel. Byrotation of the ring the tongues may be moved to or from interlocking engagement with the grooves on the ring for a purpose which Wlll hereinafter appear.

Any suitable mechanism may be employed for counteracting the recoil and counterrecoil movements of the gun and for returning the gun to battery. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the gun is returned to battery after firing by means of a recoil spring 11 mounted concentrically with the gun barrel and interposed between the ring 10 and the bearing 7 of the gun casing. In recoil this spring 11 is gradually compressed thus gradually storing up energy so that when the force of recoil has expended itself the spring acts to return the gun to battery. To limit the forward movement of the ring 10 under pressure of the spring a 'cap 12 is threaded or otherwise secured to the casing at one end. 'Rearwardmovement of the rin in the casing is limited by the bearing 7 w ich is fixedly secured in the casing.

To prevent rotation of the gun barrel due torifling of the bore the barrel is provided with splines 13 which are ada ted to pass through slots 14 in the bearing In certain types of guns it is desirable to remove the gun barrel from the casing or cradle for: transport. This may be readily accomplished with my invention by rotation of the ring 10 with respect to the barrel so as to disengage the ring from the barrel when the barrel may be slid out of the easing, the splines of the barrel passing freely through the slots in the bearing 7. To admit of ready rotation of the ring the outer face of the same is formed with spaced recesses 15 which are adapted to receive a spanner or other suitable instrument by means of which the ring may 'be rotated.

For counteracting the recoil and counterrecoil of the gun any suitable mechanism may be employed. As shown a cylinder 16 closed at both ends and filled with any suitable fluid is secured to the gun casing. A piston 17 is reciprocally mounted in this cylinder and is provided at a point intermediate its length with a circumferential groove 18 adapted to receive a locking member 20 hinged at one end to the gun barrel as at 21 low for a portion of its length and is provided at its inner end with a head 23 closelyfitting with the inner walls of the cylinder.

" Adjacent the head the piston is provided with recesses 24 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. Secured at one end to the cylinder. is a bufl'er rod 25 which is adapted to be'received within the piston and which is provided with a head 26 closely contacting with the inner walls of the piston. The bufl'er head is formedwith apertures 27 and an opening 28. A pocket valve 29 seats in the opening 28 in the buffer head.

Iii recoil the gun barrel moves rearwardly against the resistance of the spring 11 and simultaneously the gun barrel carries with it the piston 17. As the piston moves rearwardly the fluid in the cylinder is throttled through the opening formed in the piston; simultaneously the pocket valve in the buffer head is opened by suction permitting the fluid throttled through the piston to flowthrough the apertures 27 and the opening 28 in the buffer head into that portion of the iston which extends beyond the buffer head. ile this is happening the spring 11 is being compressed and at the completion of recoil the gun is returned to battery by the action of this spring. As it returns to battery the pressure of the fluid in the piston closes the pocket valve automatically thus throttling the fluid in the piston about the buffer head, permitting only gradual, restrained movement of the gun.

If desired the walls of the cylinder 16 and of the piston 17 may be'tapered for a portion of their length so as to assist the throttling action both in recoil and counterrecoil and in case the required recoil throttling oriing depth may be cut in the inner surface-of the cylinder 16, these grooves performing the same function as the tapered walls. The

' cylinder is provided with the usual packing While I have described the gun barrel asprovided with tongues to interlock with grooves on the ring 10 it is obvious that'the location of the tongues and grooves may be interchanged without affecting the function of the ring and in like manner the location of the splines and slots on the gurhbarrel and bearing member 7 respectively, may be interchanged without altering their function.

To disengage the gun barrel from its casing as for travel,.the ring is rotated to its unlocked position and the hinged member 20 is swung out of engagement with the piston; the gun barrel may then be removed from the casing.

I claim:

In combination, a gun barrel, a casing for said barrel, a ring in said casing surrounding said barrel, means for limiting the movement of said ring in one direction, a bearing in said casing for slidably supporting said barrel, said bearing being adapted to limit the movement of said ring in the other'direction, cooperating means on said bearing and gun barrel for preventing rotation of said barrel with respect to said casing, said ring and barrel being formed with tongues and grooves, said ring being adapted to be rotated to releasably lock said barrel in said casing.

BRYAN," rt JOYCE.

fice is large, longitudinal grooves with vary- 

